goldtip45

went out today and found out i got a pretty bad case of target panic.iget ot full draw and find myself trying to trigger the relesae with my finger only and at times catching myself trying to anticipate my shot and jerking my bow arm.im using a little bitty goose---i just cant get that surprise release.its though i cant pull through the shot because i feel my release arm is back against the wall.i cant seem to hold steady neither.im shooting 60 lbs with 5575 goldtip arrows.i have dropped my poundage down 5 lbs.im pulled back to the wall,got my index finger to the second crease on my trigger but am not by any means getting my surprise release.any help would be appreciated.

RidgeRunr

chuck, I had a bad bad case of the panic a couple months ago. If you do a search on here you will find a whole load of info on ways to help cure it. The most important I found was to have a shot sequence and stick to it. If you are at full draw and want to punch it, then let the shot down. You have to force your mind that you are the controller of the shot and not your reflexes. If you can use a back tension release, the surprise will be there but you need the shot sequence in my opinion first. Hope this helps. If you need more just drop me an e-mail and I can give you all the info I have about target panic. I' ll even call you if that would be easier. Chris

DoninVa

I have had this problem in the past. Something that might help, is to just try to have fun shooting. Relax and shoot. When I try to get a surprise release or think to much about my form,arm, draw and other things, it only gets worse. When I clear my mind,realize archery is supposed to be fun and just shoot, I seem to just hold and shoot better[:-]. Don

Kanga

Do away with the target and just shoot at a blank bale.
Stand say at 10 yards draw the bow close your eyes and concentrate on the release.
I start off every practice session with a dozen or so blank bale shots.

But like Don said put some fun back into your shooting its only a game for your enjoyment.

huntmup

You may want to change releases - at least for a while - in an attempt to re-program your mind to what it is supposed to feel like.

I swore by the little goose but for some people target panic is the natural outcome - I' ve seen this typically amplified by setting a ' hair' trigger - making the situration even worse.

If you can get your hands on one try a carter ' two shot' caliper style release - it has a double sear mechanism & no travel trigger - topped with a 16# spring you just pull & pull & pull trying to get it to go off - - there is no travel in the trigger so the mind doesn' t jump back & forth between aiming & jerking the trigger...

Good luck!

Antler Eater

A lot of good advice given. Different things will work for different people. The shot sequence system. No target. Some will go a step farther and shoot a bare bale with their eyes closed (up close of course) over and over in an attempt to train the mind.

The frustration of course is the harder one tries the worse it gets. Here is what helped me.

Some people call your index finger your " thinking" finger. To trigger your release or your rifle your brain tells your finger to " pull" and thus you anticipate the shot. I used a number of Scott releases (all of them were good quality) that fired using my index finger. I didn' t get " well" until I went to a release that fired in a different way. I used a Stanislowski four fingered back tension release. I should warn you there was a learning curve. But it helped me beyond measure. I also shoot a Carter BK which is trigger by the thumb. Again it takes the anticipation of the shot out of the picture. I shoot these releases all summer so when fall comes I no longer anticipate the shot and can handle a " fire on command" release for hunting.

I wish you well and good luck.

Rack-attack

Sounds like shortening the draw 1/2" or so may help. If you are stretched out it is much harder to get the back muscles into the shot.

I can shoot the little goose pretty well with back tension. It becomes a matter of trust that you can hold the pin on the target and " allow' not " command" the release to go off.

Most target panic starts with the fear of missing. You have to develope confidence that your ability to hold is good enough. Don' t be scared to miss - hold on the target and allow the shot sequence to take over.

Angus74

All the above are good advice , bare bale, eyes closed, no sight on your bow, back tension, Ive tried them all. A good carter release or back tension will work wonders for panic but some people cant get the hang of it. For hunting situations you might like your scott better anyway. I have a scott itty bitty goose and I ordered a spring trigger for it. It is a spring that replaces the trigger and is pretty flexible. If you try to punch the trigger too fast the spring will bend instead of setting the release off, if you apply slow steady tensio to it it will set it off with a " suprise release"